Truck crashes into Atlanta Waffle House; driver at large

A Waffle House in metro Atlanta got scattered in an unwelcome way last week when a driver crashed a truck into the restaurant, Channel 2 Action News reported.

A U-Haul truck came through the front glass not long after the driver had just gotten some food, the television station reported.

While trying to back out of the parking space, the driver apparently put the truck into drive instead of reverse.

“They’re not used to these kinds of things,” Waffle House Division Manager Vikash Patel said of the store’s employees. “Obviously they’re used to different kinds of events on third shift, but not a car coming through a building.”

“One of the employees said he had to jump out of the way and lost his shoe trying to get out of the way,” Cpl. Van Meadows of the Newnan police said. “Other than that, no one got hurt.”

The driver took off with a passenger right after the crash, police said.

As authorities closed in, they bailed out of the truck. The passenger, Richard Clarence Giles, was arrested, but the driver is still at large.

Some customers in the restaurant have a theory as to why the driver made such a mistake.

“Witnesses said when they got in the truck, some beer cans fell out,” Meadows said.

Police have a person of interest but are not releasing a name.

Meanwhile, work continues to get the restaurant back open. Until repairs are complete, Patel said the employees can work at another of its local locations.

“We can repair these things,” Patel said. “This is just brick and mortar. It’s hard to repair an actual person.”